Hope
by devilhornsofsatan
Summary: Two prostitutes and a young boy face the dangers of living on the streets. The youngest of the threesome has a secret, which only his lovers can explain. Is it true that love conquers everything? Read on to find out YMxBxR
1. Chapter 1

**Really loving the way that this stories turning out, hope you can enjoy it too, read on to find out what's wrong with Ryou. All will be explained. This story has no connection with the manga or anime of Yu-Gi-Oh, just thought of it one night and wanted it to be about Yami Mariku, Bakura and Ryou, UPDATES COULD BE VARIED, still have another fanfic I'm working on, but had to get this up. Please enjoy xD**

**Bakura 20, Mariku 20, Ryou 15**

"Bakura, where's Mariku gone?" asked Ryou, tightly grasping Bakura's hand, whilst they were walking around the park.

"Mariku's gone to work," said Bakura looking down at the innocent Ryou, who didn't and hopefully would never know what he was really doing.

"Oh, where at?" asked Ryou, still confused as to where his other lover was at.

"At a coffee shop," Bakura lied, "He'll be back soon though, so don't worry, and are you hungry or anything?" said Bakura, trying to change the subject. However Bakura was also worried about Ryou's health, for they haven't had proper three meals a day, barely even having one meal a day.

"No, just cold," replied Ryou, who was trying desperately to keep the heat around him, moving Bakura's arm, so that it was around his waist and he was practically hugging Bakura whilst still walking. "Where will we be meeting Mariku at?"

"He said to go to the lake, look we're almost there now, when he comes back he might bring you a treat from the shop like last time," Bakura smiled as he saw the look of excitement flashing in Ryou's eyes. "You really think so?" asked Ryou, innocently as they both stopped across from the lake.

"Of course, you know he loves to see you happy," Bakura replied, lifting Ryou up so he could kiss him chastely on his lips. Putting him back down he placed him on some rocks at the edge of the lake, sitting down next to Ryou he pulled Ryou flush against him as they watched out in the distance, waiting for Mariku to return.

"Bakura…How come there's nobody in the park?" asked Ryou, confused as to where all the people were.

"It's locked up, so nobody is allowed in, which makes it a great spot for a home, so it's only us two and Mariku when he comes back," holding Ryou tightly against his body they both waited silently got Mariku's return.

"Hey guys," came a gruff call behind them, spinning their heads around they saw Mariku standing a few metres behind them both, smiling a pained smile. However only Bakura noticed this and gave him a nod in understanding, although Ryou just smiled brightly, scrambling to his feet and rushing towards Mariku, embracing him in a hug. Snuggling his head into Mariku's chest, as Mariku put one arm around Ryou's waist and used his other hand to hold the back of Ryou's neck, pulling him closer.

"We missed you," said Ryou, tightly holding Mariku, not wanting to ever let go.

"I missed you both too," replied Mariku, giving Bakura a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Are you OK, how was work?" asked Bakura, concern evident in his voice.

"Work was fine, just a little hard, but it was worth it," Mariku smiled, still holding Ryou close, but leaning down to kiss him on the top of his head, "I got like £100, and presents," smiling Mariku pulled away from Ryou, and pulled something from his pocket.

Excitement now flashing in his eyes he was starting to get really curious as to what Mariku and bought for them. Watching Mariku's hands he saw something shiny glinting in the moonlight.

"Still as curious as ever," laughed Mariku, ruffling Ryou's hair, "they're dog tags, with our names carved into them," smiled Mariku, giving them to Bakura and Ryou as he pulled out his, already around his neck. Gasping, Ryou looked at it closely, reading all the three names on the tag, smiling happy, with tears of joy springing into his eyes as he slipped it around his neck.

Bakura just stared down at it, feeling happy, but wondering about the cost, putting it over his head and around his neck he walked behind Ryou, placing his hands around Ryou's ears, to muffle any sound that they made. This action just caused Ryou to squirm around and try to break free, but stopped when he saw the stern look on Mariku's face, deciding that it would be better to just let them talk.

"How much did this cost? Where the hell did you get the money?" hissed Bakura, careful not to let Ryou hear him.

"Don't worry about the cost, I was saving up the money and got them half price," smiled Mariku, sadly.

"You don't mean you…Oh God, you slept with him for this?" Bakura couldn't help the tears that were springing into his eyes.

"It's fine, I got the £100 as well, and it was worth it to see you and Ryou smile," Mariku grasped onto Bakura's hands, pulling them away from Ryou's ears, "now Ryou, do you like your gift?"

"Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, so, so much," Ryou embraced Mariku again, but suddenly pulled away, bringing his hand up to his face. Blood. Bakura caught sight of what Ryou was looking at, gasping slightly, pulling Ryou's hand to his face he saw the blood as well.

"Mariku what's this?" asked Ryou, scared of what was wrong with him. Now looking at the blood on Ryou's hand he swore loudly in his head, Ryou could never find out about how he had got it...Never.

Putting on a fake smile he pulled Ryou's hand away from his face, wiping the blood off onto his own shirt, before going down to Ryou's height, looking directly into his eyes, "there was an accident at work, but don't worry it doesn't hurt too much." Pulling Ryou back into the embrace he made sure that he was held tightly, as though the tighter he held on the more Ryou was protected.

"Come on we need some sleep," said Bakura, already walking towards the nearby rocks by the lake. Picking Ryou up bridal style Mariku continued to follow Bakura, just as he was nearly there he heard Ryou yawning, trying not to fall asleep, Mariku kissed his forehead, before placing him on the rocks. Sitting down Ryou started to manoeuvre himself, so that he had his legs across Mariku's and he was sat in Bakura's lap, head on his chest.

Snuggling down Ryou felt someone's hand grasping tightly on his own, squeezing it tightly, making Ryou smile with joy. "Go to sleep Ryou, we'll be here when you wake up," said Bakura, stroking Ryou's hair in a loving and gentle manner.

"No, I want to talk with you too," argued Ryou, but it was clear as day that he wasn't even fooling himself, when trying to stay awake, as his eyes already started to droop.

"Sleep, dove, we'll see you in the morning," said Mariku, still holding Ryou's hand in a tight loving grasp that clearly said I love you.

"Love you both," was the last thing he said, before he felt himself being lulled to sleep by Bakura's steady heartbeat.

"Mariku what happened?" asked Bakura, worry in his eyes, as he held Ryou closer to his chest, as if trying to protect him from the world. Mariku just scooted closer to Bakura, gripping Ryou's hand near his chest and putting his other hand over Bakura's shoulders.

"It's fine, it was worth it, we got a load of cash and Ryou's happy,"

"But he nearly found out Mariku! I don't know what we'd do if Ryou found out about what we'd do," said Bakura, pulling away from Mariku. "Bakura, he'll never know, we're careful, he'll never find out, just like he will never ever do anything of what we do," Mariku pulled Bakura's head onto his shoulder, kissing his forehead, as they both looked across the lake, thinking about the future. Both of them however were brought out of their musings when their youngest lover of the trio began to shake, because of the cold wind biting against his skin. Bakura just squeezed Ryou closer into his chest and rubbed his forearms to help the warmth get back in them.

"Nrgh, s'time?" Asked a groggy Ryou, unaware that he'd been asleep for little over five minutes.

"Go back to sleep, it's fine" whispered Mariku, as he rubbed Ryou's legs, trying to help spread the warmth through them. Nodding his head against Bakura's chest he snuggled into his chest, hugging him tightly to try and stay warm, before finally falling back asleep. The other two males watched him as he fell asleep, before Bakura finally broke the silence.

"He's a child... An innocent child, how could someone like him end up on the streets?"

"I don't know, we should just be glad we met him; at least we can look after him... As much as we can given the circumstances anyway,"

"You're right, it's just he's a teenager, but acts innocent and young,"

"Get some sleep, we'll talk in the morning,"

Mariku turned his head to look down at the angelic face of Ryou, snuggling into Bakura's chest, letting go of his hand he brought it up to stroke Ryou's face, then stroking his hair, before going back to hold his hand. Squeezing Bakura's shoulder as he slept he rested his head a top Bakura's, trying desperately to fall asleep.

Luckily for him his eyes started to droop, losing sight of the lake, he fell asleep, holding his two lovers close to his body to protect them from any danger.

M/O/R/N/I/N/G

Opening his eyes Mariku found himself to be lying fully on the rocks, alone. Bolting up, awake, he was thankful to see Bakura sat next to him looking a little nearer to the lake he saw Ryou at the edge of the lake sitting on his knees, so that he could look inside the water.

"He's just like a child, he acts as though he's like nine, but in reality he's fifteen years old," stated Bakura, sadness clearly on his face.

"And we all know why that is," replied Mariku, as he stared on at the back of Ryou, who was now laughing as he put his fingers skimming on the edge of the lake, fish coming up and nearly touching them. Bringing his hands out of the water he turned around to be met with the sight of both of his other lovers wide awake watching him. Smiling, brightly he waved at them, before racing back to them both stopping to sit in front of them.

"Where are we going today?" he questioned, curiosity on his features.

"We're going to go into the town, to find some food," said Bakura, smiling as he stood up, ruffling his hair as he did so. Getting up, along after Bakura, Mariku held his hand out, waiting for Ryou to hold onto it, before following Bakura on the way to town.

Wandering through the park they went to the first fence, Bakura climbing over first, before Mariku lifted up Ryou, who was then hoisted over the fence and handed over to Bakura, who dropped him safely back to the ground. After Mariku was over the fence they started their five minute walk into town, looking for food and shelter.

Holding Mariku's hand, Ryou was looking around at all the different people walking past; some dressed normally others in fancy costumes. Above him Mariku and Bakura were looking around for a cheap place to eat at, or an easy place to steal from.

"Ryou, stay close," said Bakura, watching Ryou until nodded at him, still smiling, and then turning his head to gaze at Mariku, "I didn't know there was a carnival going on? It's getting pretty busy,"

"I thought it was on next week, it could be a bit of a bother trying to find a place to get food," replied Mariku, already scouting the area for food and making sure that Ryou was still with them, safe and sound.

Suddenly a group of men practically slammed into them, knocking them away from each other, sadly also causing Ryou's hand to slip out of Mariku's grip. Being pulled away by the crowd Ryou didn't know what to do other than follow them.

"Bloody idiots," mumbled Bakura, walking back towards Mariku.

"Bakura, where's Ryou?" asked Mariku, hoping that Ryou had managed to keep in contact with one of them at least.

"I thought he was with you?" half shouted Bakura worried.

"He was, but those idiots separated us, oh God, we need to find him!" said Mariku, dragging Bakura to the side lines of the crowd, hoping to spot their white haired lover. Desperately running everywhere they were both scared for the safety of their youngest, he wasn't used to being left alone. He was practically a child, no matter how old he was, he wasn't able to live without the two of them and that was no exaggeration.

Suddenly they both caught sight of a small white haired boy, crying next to a blue haired man, who was now crouching on the floor next to him. Running over to the man they were both in shock as to who was with Ryou. "Ryou!" shouted Bakura, causing Ryou to spin around and stop crying, smiling again as he was embraced into a hug by Bakura.

"I'm glad you found me, I thought I'd lost you," said Ryou, when Bakura pulled away he leaned in to place a kiss on Bakura's cheek. Turning Ryou around he then proceeded to put one arm around the front of Ryou staring at the person in front of him as he got up.

"I never thought I'd see you two again," said the man, before laying his sights on Ryou, "and I see you've found a boy to help earn money,"

"Don't you dare come near him again!" growled Mariku, placing a hand on Ryou's shoulder.

"Ah, but on the contrary I was the one who found him," said the man smiling. Ryou didn't know who the man was, but felt that his other lovers were being a bit harsh on him, after all the man helped him. However he also wanted to know who the man actually was.

"Bakura? Mariku? Who is he?" he asked, looking up at the man. Instead of Bakura and Mariku answering themselves the stranger thought he should be the one to introduce himself.

"Well, my names Dartz and I'm sure that I'll be seeing you more often," said Dartz, putting his hand forward to brush across Ryou's cheek, before his wrist was harshly gripped by Mariku, who was staring at him very threateningly.

"Don't even think about touching him again," he growled, not liking the way Ryou was being stared at by him.

"I can do whatever I want," calmly replied Dartz, before setting his sights on Ryou again he said, "don't be afraid to say hi to me if you see me around," before walking away. Being polite he said good bye to Dartz, waving at his departing figure. However behind him Bakura and Mariku were looking at each other worryingly, holding on to Ryou protectively.

"Come on let's go get some food," said Mariku, already steering Bakura and Ryou in the direction of a small coffee shop on the corner. Walking into the shop Ryou went ahead and sat down in a booth on the corner, Mariku and Bakura sitting opposite him. A waitress walked over to them asking for their orders.

"Two coffees please and a…." trailed off Mariku, looking at Ryou, who smiled and turned to look at the waitress saying, "Chocolate milkshake," writing down their orders she asked if they wanted anything else, which then Mariku ordered a donut. Looking at Ryou he smiled to himself as Ryou's eyes instantly lit up in thankfulness and excitement. Excusing herself the waitress later returned with their orders. Taking the donut Bakura pushed it towards Ryou, telling him to eat it all.

"But what about you two?" He questioned, not wanting the other two to feel left out.

"Its fine we can eat later," said Bakura, smiling.

"No! We can split it into three, and I won't take no for an answer," sternly said Ryou, pouting slightly. After the other two agreed he proceeded to cut it up into thirds, before giving Bakura and Mariku there share. Before long Ryou was in his own little world, taking turns in eating and drinking his snacks. Inside both Bakura's and Mariku's mind they were thinking of how thankful they were of having such a cute and kind lover, smiling at each other they made conversation whilst they ate and drank. Once all the males had finished they left the shop and went to their next stop, which was a visit to Yami's. As much as they wanted to stop Ryou from ever stepping foot in there they couldn't leave him out in the open alone if Dartz was around and the boss had requested to see both Mariku and Bakura this time.

After about a ten minute walk they ended up outside an office type building, but it looked very different to a 'legal' one if you understand what I'm trying to say.

"Ryou stay close to us and don't leave us either," warned Bakura, grasping onto Ryou's hand and Mariku grasped the other one, neither of them wanting to lose Ryou. After Ryou nodded they proceeded onwards into the building.

Once they entered the building they were met with the smell of tobacco and other drugs that were definitely not as legal as the first. Walking down the hall the males climbed the stairs, before they got to a rather large door, with the name Yami written on it in gold letters, after knocking they entered the room, holding Ryou's hands even tighter. Upon entering the room they were met with the sight of a group of guys playing poker in the corner, some smoking joints by the window and one man sat in an almost throne like chair watching everything happen.

"Ah, Bakura Mariku glad you could make it. Oh and what's this, is it a little present you've got for me?" Asked the man in the throne like chair, staring straight at Ryou.

"Don't even think about it Yami!" Threatened Bakura, not wanting Ryou to get hurt, "we just came here to give you your last payment," weirdly enough this only caused Yami to break into a fit of laughter, slowly pushing himself up and off the chair he made his way across to the middle of the room, where the three boys were standing. Looking up and down at them each individually he roughly grabbed Bakura by the collar, bringing them face to face, making Ryou's eyes widen in shock and have fear radiate from his body. Mariku just growled and pulled Ryou away from them, holding him close as all they could both do was look on.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that again, or your life could easily turn into a world of pain," spat out Yami, letting go of Bakura once he got his point across. Stepping back he brought his hand up into the air and snapped his fingers together, causing all the men to leave the room, apart from his two right hand men.

"Now where were we?" Asked Yami, smirking as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the response from the men in front of him.

"We said we came here to give you your last payment, £150" said Mariku, not trusting Bakura to act civilised, and they just wanted to leave as fast as they come but considering it was Yami who they were talking to there was absolutely no guarantee.

"Don't make me laugh, I'll decide when you have your last payment," said Bakura, before setting his sights on little Ryou yet again, "but maybe if this boy could be the last payment,"

"He has no part of this," growled Bakura, coming up to stand in front of Mariku and Ryou.

"Don't you want to end this little cycle we have? I bet this guy is still a virgin to,"

"I swear to God you better shut-up, just because we owe you don't you dare think that we are giving up Ryou!" shouted Mariku, eyes shining with anger, as he hugged Ryou tighter, who was now scared because of all the tension in the air.

"So his name's Ryou? A quite angelic name don't you think?" Yami said, still with his eyes dead set on Ryou.  
"Here's the money!" Shouted Mariku, throwing it to the ground as he, Bakura and Ryou already started to walk to the door. "Bad decision," said Yami as he brought his hands up to the air again, snapping his fingers, causing the two other men in the room to rush up towards the other two leaving figures, grabbing their arms they left the three in shock, so the men had time to spin them around and grab them all in a solid lock by pulling their arms behind their backs. Trying to pull away Mariku and Bakura were quickly silenced as they had hands brought over their mouths, leaving them to stare desperately at Yami as he walked towards their lover…Ryou. Ryou was left shocked as his other two lovers were restrained and half gagged, looking in front of him he could only stare as the man called Yami walked up to him, bringing out his hand, to stroke his cheek. "Exactly as I thought it would be, soft," however Yami was brought out of his musings as one of his men shrieked.

Looking at the man he saw that even though he was still holding Bakura but his hand was now bleeding, it looked as if Bakura had bit him. "Don't even think about laying your hands on Ryou you bastard!" shouted Bakura, trying desperately to get away from the man and get to Ryou, but he was sadly failing. "Now, now, now Bakura I think you deserve a punishment for all of this," turning his attention back to Ryou he took a hold of his right hand and stoked it tenderly, before going down to Ryou's level and smiling up at him. Thinking that this man in front of him wasn't all that bad he smiled back at him innocently. Mariku and Bakura were just staring on at him, wondering what Yami had planned to do with their youngest lover.

"Now Ryou I'm really sorry about this but this is going to hurt quite a lot," said Yami, smiling before kissing his cheek and taking a hold of his right hand again. After saying this Ryou's smile faltered, not knowing what Yami was on about, he opened his mouth and was about to ask when instead of asking this he let out an ear piercing scream, because Yami had started twisting his hand in a way that it should never be twisted. After finishing this he let Ryou fall to the ground, clutching his hand as tears rolled down his face, closing his eyes all he was trying to do was cancel out the pain, sadly this wasn't working at all. "Now Ryou I'm sorry I had to do this, but Mariku and Bakura left me with no other option, I hope to see you again soon," was the last thing Yami said before getting up and nodding to his men to let go of the others, as they did Mariku and Bakura ran to Ryou, assessing his injury.

"Oh and thanks for the money, but I'd appreciate it if Ryou came here more often, just think we could have much more fun with each other, see you next week and as another punishment I've got a job that needs to be done too, you'll get the details next week," said Yami, before walking out of the door with his men.

"It…It hurts, it… hurts," said Ryou weakly, holding his hand tightly as his two lovers crouched down next to him in worry.

"We need to get out of here," said Mariku, already helping Ryou up.

"I swear to God, I will kill him one of these days," said Bakura, clenching his fists in fury. Though this only made Ryou step back, bumping into Mariku, in fear. Bakura watched on as Ryou stepped back in fear, but what made him worry was that it was because of him.

"Ryou, don't be scared, it's just me, I was only kidding," he laughed, crouching down again hold his chin, once Ryou nodded he smiled slightly and got back up, he then proceeded to take a hold of his hand that wasn't broken and pull him and Mariku out of the door, down the staircase and out of the building. They then proceeded to run like mad down the streets, looking for an isolated back alley. Ryou was starting to cry freely now, as his injured hand was being tossed about roughly. Once Mariku and Bakura found a suitable area behind an abandoned shop they stopped and fell to the ground, pulling Ryou down with them. They looked at each for a few seconds, before nodding slightly at each other.

Bakura pulled Ryou into his chest, using one hand to stroke the back of his neck, pulling him closely into his chest, and using the other one to stroke his cheek tenderly. Leaning down he whispered into Ryou's ear, "Ryou we're so sorry, but this'll be painful, we need to put your hand back into place, or it'll be painful for a really long time," realising what they were talking about Ryou's eyes widened and he started to struggle, but Bakura closed his eyes sadly and just moved the hand holding his neck around his waist, pulling him tightly against his body.

"Sorry, don't make it harder than it has to be," said Mariku, holding his injured hand, nodding to Bakura he waited until Bakura had his other hand wrapped around Ryou's mouth, before muttering an apology and twisting his hand back into place, ignoring Ryou's pained and muffled screech. Tears were flowing down Ryou's face now as he used his free arm to pull on Bakura's shirt.

After finishing with Ryou's hand Mariku proceeded to embrace his two lovers, as he and Bakura listened to Ryou's pained crying and whimpering.

"Sorry, but it had to be done Ryou," whispered Mariku, "please don't hate us,"

"Why would someone do that?" asked Ryou, tightly holding onto Bakura's shirt, as the hand that was wrapped around his mouth was removed. Sighing Mariku replied "some people are just really bad, and can't be trusted; we swear we wouldn't have brought you there if we knew something like this was going to happen,"

"I…It's OK," said Ryou, who had finally stopped crying, but his hand still felt quite twisted and tight, but the intense pain had luckily subsided. "What do we do now?" asked Ryou, whimpering slightly. Both Mariku and Bakura looked at the small bundle in their arms, not knowing what to say or do, because of how scared Ryou was it'd be crazy to go out and do their job.

"Well I guess it's nearly coming to the evening, so we better get back to the park and wait till the morning," getting up, they had to pull Ryou up, because he was still struggling against them. "Ryou, stop struggling,"

"I don't want to go,"

"Why?"

"You'll go and then I'll be alone again," he said, before crying again as Bakura brought him into his chest, stroking his back tenderly.

"What's brought this on?"

"One of you always goes every night to do something, but I don't know what you do? Tell me!" shouted Ryou, pushing himself away from Bakura.

"Just a job," Bakura and Mariku were now afraid at what had gotten into Ryou, but as they advanced they noticed Ryou was moving back and was now pushing against the wall behind him.

"I'm scared, and don't want that bad man to find us, he'll hurt you, I'm so confused, my head hurts…please tell me what's going on," and this was the last thing Ryou said before he passed out, Mariku just having enough time to catch him.

"It's starting again that jackass; this time I mean it I will kill him!" shouted Bakura, angry at the guy for causing their lover to have another attack, they thought that he'd gotten over this by now.

"Put him onto my back, we'll walk back to the park, once he wakes up we'll speak nothing of today, he doesn't need to know, it's not important anyways," as he said this Bakura followed Mariku's orders and moved so that he could lift Mariku up and onto his back, before they proceeded to walk back to the park, having to take it in turns to help Ryou over the fence, as he was still unconscious. Once in the park they walked back to the lake and sat down, putting Ryou across their laps, just like they did the night before, but this time the opposite way around, so that Ryou was leaning on Mariku's chest and Bakura was stroking his legs. For now all that they could do was wait until Ryou woke up, to see what he remembers about the day, or if it was a really bad attack about them. They weren't sat there long until Ryou began trembling in their arms and whispering incoherent words, shaking him Mariku started saying his name, trying to make Ryou open his eyes, which eventually worked, for he started to blink them open until he saw the two men clearly in front of the, but the one sentence that slipped through his mouth was one that Bakura and Mariku most feared in the world;

"Who are you?"

"Don't you remember us?"

"No…Where's dad? Where are we, I want to go home!" Cried out Ryou, confused as two who these strange men that were holding him were and confused as to where he was at this moment in time.

"It' me, Mariku, that's Bakura, please say you know who we are," the two of them were looking down at Ryou, praying to whoever was listening that Ryou remembered them.

"B…Bakura…Mariku?" getting rid of his confused state he recognised these two men to be his lovers. Sighing the two men embraced Ryou, who was still a tad confused about what was going on, "where's dad?" Bakura and Mariku looked at each other and sighed inwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Do you remember anything from what happened?"

"We were in the garden playing, when dad called you two back inside…Now we're…where is here?"

Ignoring the questions Bakura just asked one simple question, "How old are you?"

"Silly I'm ten, my birthday was just a few months ago, how could you forget my age,"

Looking at each other, Mariku and Bakura were now very concerned and angry. Angry at Yami and concerned because they'd have to tell Ryou about his past again.

"Now Ryou you may not remember, but here's the truth," and then Bakura and Mariku told Ryou of his past, and why they had ran away.

**Don't worry this won't turn out to be incest lol! Need name for Ryou's dad please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is the story of how all three of them met, but just pretend that Mariku and Bakura tell Ryou it leaving out the 'bad' parts, you'll understand what I mean once you've read it anyway please enjoy xD, I won't go into much detail in some points, but you can imagine what's happening, not trying to offend anyone! ****Ryota = Ryou's dad, couldn't think of anything else sorry T_T**

**Ryou 10, Bakura 15, Mariku 15**

_Ryou had always had an easy life, until one day his life changed forever. He and his parents had been in a nasty car accident, which had cost them his mother's life, which meant that their life had been changed, but was it for the better? At the time of the crash Ryou, had only been seven years old and after two years his father had brought in two other kids, he said he had adopted them, which Ryou didn't mind about, because it meant that he would never be alone, so he welcomed them with opened arms, but a year on something happens that Ryou just can't get to leave his mind…_

"You need to be more careful," said Bakura, who was crouched down in front of Ryou, tending to his wounds, whilst Ryou just cried against his sleeve, "you may think nothing can hurt you, but it can," they had just gotten home from the park on a nice hot Sunday morning when Ryou climbed up on the small wall, and sadly lost his footing and came toppling down, leaving him a bloody crying heap on the floor. His legs now had cuts and bruises all over them.

"Is it better?" asked Ryou, only sniffling slightly now.

"Yes, kissing the wounds makes them heal almost instantly did you know?" said Bakura, and after placing a bandage around the last wound he kissed it delicately. Ryou, being the kid he was, believed him and smiled down at him, thinking that the pain had vanished, which it did, in his mind anyway.

"What happened here?" Snarled someone from the doorway, looking up they saw Ryou's father standing there, Ryota.

"Ryou, he fell off the wall in the garden, we just came from the park," said Bakura, looking at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with the man in the doorway.

"Is that true Ryou?" asked Ryota, Ryou just nodded and smiled up at his father, "come on then get ready for bed now," Ryou jumped up on his feet, hugging Bakura, Bakura kissed his forehead and hugged back tightly. Letting go of Bakura Ryou made his over to Ryota and hugged him tightly, before running to his room, to get some sleep.

"You and Mariku will put Ryou to sleep, then you can join me downstairs in the basement, we have much to do," said Ryota, smirking. Bakura just got up and started to walk out of the room, before Ryota put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, before whispering into his ear; "remember to make sure Ryou is in bed before you come down…. Wouldn't want him to find out, now would we?" Bakura shoved past him and went down the hall to Ryou's room. He was met with the sight of Ryou in bed and Mariku sitting behind him, so that Ryou was seated between his legs. Mariku was stroking Ryou's long white hair, whilst Ryou ranted on about Bakura and his time at the park.

Walking in both people occupying the bed looked up and smiled, but Ryou's smile was much brighter than the one behind him. Nodding in understanding Bakura made his way over to the two and sat down, on the bed, in front of them both.

"We had a great time at the park didn't we?" said Ryou, still smiling, but he couldn't help but yawn, no matter how much he tried to supress it.

"Yes, but now I think you need some sleep, we'll go to the park again tomorrow, maybe Mariku will come with us this time," answered Bakura, looking up at Mariku, who nodded his head in agreement.

"Now I think you need some sleep," whispered Mariku, into Ryou's ear, smiling as he started to tickle Ryou's stomach. Ryou started laughing and squirming in Mariku's lap, somehow ending up lying on the bad, as Bakura joined in the tickling antics. "S…Stop," laughed Ryou, clearly not being able to handle much more of that torture. Laughing at the struggling Ryou they stopped and both got up off the bed, leaving Ryou sit up pouting, before going under the covers, bringing the covers up to his chin. Bending down both boys took it in turns to kiss Ryou's cheek, before starting to walk out of the room.

"Wait," said Ryou, rising up again, to sit against the headboard. Turning around the two boys took in the sight of Ryou, waiting for him to carry on with what he was saying, "I keep hearing voices," said Ryou finally looking down at his lap. Looking at each other the other two boys quickly made their way back to Ryou, sitting by either side of him, hoping what they heard was wrong.

"What do you mean voices?" asked Mariku, worriedly.

"Downstairs, sometimes they wake me up at night, I get scared, but when I get up nobody is ever about to talk to," said Ryou, happy that he's finally getting it off his chest.

"You properly imagine them, but don't worry we'll always be here to help OK?" replied Mariku

"Yeah, but can you stay until I fall asleep please," pleaded Ryou, Mariku just pulled Ryou down, so his head was lying on his lap and Bakura moved his legs, so that they were lying across his lap.

"Whenever you need us just ask, it's OK," said Mariku, Bakura nodding in agreement. Mariku started stroking his head softly, as he started humming a soft tune, Bakura just started running his hand up and down Ryou's leg, using the other one to stroke his long white hair. Slowly Ryou's eyes began to droop and he finally closed his eyes, lost himself into the world of sleep. Noticing that Ryou had finally gone limp in their arms they slowly placed him back in the bed and pulled the covers over him, taking a few seconds to look at his innocent dreaming face they then proceeded to make their way downstairs.

Whilst walking down the stairs they were having a conversation on their lives and what's to come in the future…

"We need to get out of here, but we can't leave Ryou behind," stated Mariku, sternly, making it clear that he was not taking no for an answer.

"How though, we never get a chance,"

"We'll find a way, somehow, and Ryou will come with us,"

"We can't live on the streets, he'll never last,"

"Somehow, don't worry, we'll figure it out," And that was the end of the conversation, as they had made their way to the front of the basement door, taking a deep breath they both walked in, coming face to face with Ryota. Turning around Ryota smirked and said, "Nice of you to join me, is Ryou asleep,"

"Yes,"

"Good, then we can begin,"

Meanwhile upstairs Ryou began to wake up, because he had lost the warmth that helped him sleep along with the delicate humming helping him sleep. Sitting upright he rubbed his eyes, but froze, as he heard the voices coming from downstairs again. This time though he was positive that he would face his fears, getting up off the bed he slowly made his way out of the room. Walking down the hallway he started to walk down the stairs, but stopped in the middle, when the voices seemed louder. Shaking his head he carried on till he got to the bottom of the stairs, when he found that the direction of the voices was coming from the basement. Walking to the basement door he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and opened the door. However the sight he was met with made him freeze and make his eyes widen in shock, as well as this it made him gasp and tears immediately sprang into his eyes.

The sight in front of him was Bakura and Mariku both strapped to two chairs, as Ryota was whipping their bare backs, which were already covered in unhealed scars, from other times they did this. Upon hearing the gasp all men in the room turned to its owner. Smiling Ryota stopped his actions and dropped the whip, as Bakura and Mariku just stared at Ryou in shock and humiliation. Ryota walked around Ryou, placing his hands on his shoulders, from behind, whilst Ryou just couldn't take his eyes off Mariku and Bakura.

"Now Ryou why are you awake this late?" asked Ryota, trying to be sweet, but the mask he was wearing was obvious, except it wasn't obvious to Ryou, as he was very naïve.

"I heard voices," replied Ryou, still to shocked to look away from Bakura and Mariku.

"That doesn't mean you can come down, it's past your bed time," whispered Ryota, who was now crouching down, so his lips were right next to Ryou's ear.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know what the voices were," said Ryou, finally turning his head to face his dad.

"Shouldn't you be going back to bed now?"

"But what about Bakura and Mariku," Ryou turned his head back to look at the other two boys, who were now looking intently at them, wondering what Ryota was going to do. Ryota had now become impatient with Ryou, so he gripped his chin roughly, making him face him, "don't you know it's rude to speak to your elders like that, now go back to bed right now," not wanting to make Ryota more angry he nodded his head, well nodded it as much as he could with Ryota gripping his chin, "good, goodnight then," kissing Ryou's forehead he pushed him in the direction of the door. Ryou took one look back and quickly turned forward again in fear and shame mixed as one. Walking out of the basement tears immediately sprung into his eyes as he ran upstairs into his bedroom, throwing himself onto the bed he started crying freely in fear and shock.

Another new day had finally come round, when the sun shined brightly through the curtains, causing Ryou to slowly blink his eyes open. Luckily somewhere through the night Ryou had fallen asleep, but his eyes were still red rimmed and puffy from crying. Pulling himself upright he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, sniffling slightly he pulled himself off the bed and walked towards the door. Opening the door he made his way down the hallway and down the stairs, walking slowly into the kitchen. Opening the kitchen door he was met with the sight of Mariku and Bakura already sat down eating breakfast. Hearing the door open they both stopped eating their toast and looked in the direction of the door, upon seeing Ryou they looked at each other and nodded slightly.

"Morning Ryou, how did you sleep?" asked Bakura

"Fine," said Ryou, avoiding eye contact and quickly moving towards the cupboard to pull out cereal and a boy, pouring cereal and then the milk he then sat down opposite the other two boys. Choosing to eat, instead of making eye contact with the boys was what was making them worry.

"Now Ryou don't you know it's rude to be impolite," said a voice behind him, the smirk evident in his voice. Flinching Ryou chose to keep eating his breakfast, instead of talking to his father.

"Now boys I'll be gone tonight, so you'll have a free night, make sure Ryou is in bed at a reasonable time. Other than that you can do whatever you want." And with that Ryota walked out of the room, on his way to work. Once the door had slammed shut behind him Mariku and Bakura moved so that they were crouched down next to Ryou.

"Ryou, you can't tell anyone about yesterday,"

"Why not, dad was hurting you,"

"No he wasn't, he was just angry, it didn't hurt at all," Mariku knew Bakura was lying; he was just hoping Ryou didn't know as well.

"Are…Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, pinky promise," holding his pinky out Ryou hesitated before entwining them together, putting on a small smile.

"Come on finish your breakfast, I did say I would come to the park with you to after all," said Mariku as he and Bakura stood up; Ryou just smiled and started shovelling his breakfast into his mouth. They walked out of the kitchen, going upstairs to get what they needed.

"God, I can't believe he saw that," said Bakura, sitting on the end of the bed, whilst rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, but maybe he'll go easy on us now?" Mariku answered, sitting next to Bakura, putting an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close, "We have to get out of here,"

"We can't just leave Ryou," Bakura exclaimed, moving to be face to face with Mariku, who leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips, "Is it wrong to say we love him too, he's just a kid,"

"Well it's not like we're using him, we love him and we'll take him with us, we'll start planning tonight," walking back downstairs with sun cream, they saw Ryou in the living room, putting on his shoes.

"Ryou, you need sun cream on you," sitting down beside Ryou, Bakura started to rub some of the cream on Ryou's face, who was squirming the whole time, making Bakura chuckle, "Come on let's go," said Bakura, taking Ryou's hand in his own. He, Mariku and Ryou then made their way out of the house and on their way to the park.

"Ryou make sure you stay where we can see you," said Bakura, letting Ryou run off into the small playground as he and Mariku sat on a bench watching, "So when do we leave?"

"Three, two days, give or take,"

"So when we do where will we stay?"

"Streets most likely, we have no money or anything,"

"So basically we'll be prostitutes again, but what about Ryou?"

"One of us will have to stay with him, he can't know about it, and never do it,"

"I agree with that, well we better get ready then, what will we tell Ryou?"

"I don't know yet, we'll have to figure that one out ourselves,"

Both of them sat side by side, leaning against each other and entwining their hands, both of them sighing in peacefulness.

"Bakura, Mariku," looking up they came face to face with a bloody Ryou.

"Ryou what the Hell happened?" asked Mariku, bringing Ryou close to them both.

"Those boys did it," cried Ryou, rubbing at his eyes as he gestured over to a group of boys who were staring at them all and laughing.

"Why? Do you know them?"

"No they said you were… fags, but I don't even know what that means," Mariku brought Ryou into his chest, a shocked expression on his face as he looked at Bakura in anger, "come on we'll go home now," with both of them holding each of Ryou's hands they walked home, Ryou was still crying slightly, so he held Bakura and Mariku's hands tightly. Ignoring the looks they were getting when they were walking home they eventually got back to their home.

Guiding Ryou into the living room they set him on the couch, Mariku staying with him whilst Bakura went to get the first aid kit. When Bakura came into the living room he saw Mariku's arms slung over his shoulders and Ryou snuggling into his chest, still sniffling.

"Take your shirt off," Bakura stated, as he got all the supplies he needed out of the first aid kit. Turning back he saw bruises over his chest and a few cuts scattered around his arms, his elbows scraped badly. Cleaning his cuts and putting ointment on the bruises he looked Ryou in the eyes, "Remember what I said yesterday when you fell off the wall?"

"Yeah," Ryou sniffled, as Bakura brushed away the tears in the corner of his eyes. Before he kissed him on his elbow, smiling when Ryou's face broke into a small smile, "Now let's go get something to eat," all three males walked into the kitchen, Mariku picking Ryou up and seating him on the kitchen worktop, as he and Mariku went and started making lunch.

"What does fag mean?" asked a thoughtful Ryou, making Bakura and Mariku freeze in their tracks.

"Ryou don't say that word, it's bad… really bad," Mariku growled out, not wanting to scare Ryou off, but he absolutely hated that word.

"But what does it mean?"

"It's a bad word meaning two men who love each other very much," said Bakura, picking his words carefully.

"Dad says that's bad,"

"Trust him to say that," muttered Mariku, scoffing. Bakura just shot him a look that said _shut up, you're not helping,_ "It isn't trust me on this, you can't help who you fall in love with," By adding the last part he was talking about Mariku and himself loving Ryou.

"Does that mean I'm one…? I love you and Mariku,"

"No it's a different kind of love, you know kissing,"

"Would it feel different, if we kissed," now Ryou was in a lot of thought, even though he was too young to understand he wanted to know what the difference would be. After hearing that Mariku moved away from the kitchen counter top and he and Bakura gazed at each other, before he spoke up, "You would be OK with that," nodding Bakura quickly leaned down, kissing Ryou sweetly on the lips. Pulling away he looked in Ryou's eyes.

"It didn't feel any different," Bakura face broke out in a smile. 'Does this mean Ryou loves us in a more loving way?' he thought. Mariku decided to try as well, so he also moved to be in front of Ryou and kissed him on the lips; pulling away he smiled, thinking about how much he'd been holding back and the wait being worth it in the end.

"Now let's eat lunch," picking Ryou up, Mariku put him back on the ground then they all sat down and ate lunch laughing as though they were one big happy family. After lunch they all sat down on the couch, Ryou leaning on Bakura's chest whilst his legs were sprawled across Mariku's legs, as they watched a movie together. After watching a comedy together Bakura and Mariku decided on a film that Ryou probably wouldn't enjoy.

"Do we have to watch a horror?" asked a scared Ryou, holding tightly onto Mariku's arm.

"Come on Ry, Ryota's not here anymore, so we can do whatever we want," Bakura said, tickling Ryou's stomach. As Ryou giggled slightly he hugged his arms around his chest, "We'll protect you don't worry," After waiting for Ryou to nod Mariku pressed play on the DVD.

Half way through the film Ryou could tell that he would never be watching it again, as he had pulled Mariku close so he could hide behind one of his arms, not that Mariku minded. He felt batter when Ryou did this; he felt that he was needed. Bakura had just tightened his grip around Ryou's waist. In all honesty they had picked the movie just so Ryou would cling onto them, even though they felt guilty about it they knew that it might also be the last time they could watch TV.

"I think the films nearly at the end now, do you want to go to bed," still clutching Mariku's arm he just nodded slightly. Mariku just laughed and as Bakura let go of Ryou's waist he picked him up, letting Ryou wrap his arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Snuggling his head into Mariku's neck he breathed in his scent, to block out scenes from the movie they had just watched.

"Come on we're at your bedroom now, let go," persuaded Mariku, but Ryou refused to do so, "I'm scared, please stay" he whispered. Ignoring the fact Ryota wouldn't like it Bakura just lay in the bed, as Mariku pried Ryou off of him placing him on the bed. Ryou just moved, so he was hugging Ryou, sighing as he felt Mariku spooning him from behind. In the warmth he was now feeling he slowly drifted off to sleep, as did Mariku and Bakura, all three of them feeling not caring about the sight that Ryota would come home to in the morning.

"Now what do we have here?" asked a smirking Ryota, looking at his son embraced between his two whores, as he liked to call them.

"Ryota, it's not what it looks like, Ryou just couldn't get to sleep," Bakura pleaded, as he and Mariku practically leapt off the young boy between them, who was just starting to wake up, sitting up slowly, wondering what was happening.

"Now I wasn't even thinking about that," sitting down on the bed, beside Ryou, Mariku and Bakura could only watch at what he was trying to do, what he was planning, "Ryou, what were these two doing in your bed?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I asked them to stay,"

"And did they do anything to you,"

"No… Why?"

"I'm just asking," Ryota, said stroking his hand on Ryou's cheek, before asking one more question, "You like Mariku and Bakura don't you?"

"Yeah I love them," smiling Ryou didn't see it coming, but Ryota suddenly brought his hand down on Ryou's cheek hard. Snapping his head to the side tears immediately sprung to his eyes, bringing his hand up he touched his cheek, turning to look by into Ryota's angry eyes.

"You do not love them, loving men is forbidden,"

"But Mariku and Bakura said it wasn't bad," Ryou pleaded, causing Ryota to push up off the bed and turn his angry gaze onto Mariku and Bakura.

"What lies have you been feeding my son?"

"Ryota we never said anything, we swear," Bakura pleaded, both of them stepping back in fear.

"Scared, are we?" Ryota asked, stepping forward towards them, but stopped in his tracks, by a tugging on his shirt, looking down he saw Ryou staring up at him with wide eyes, "Maybe teaching Ryou a lesson will get you to be more obedient,"

"Don't hurt him, he's no part of this," Mariku pleaded, both of them scared for Ryou's safety. Ryota just ignored them; he proceeded to pick Ryou up, balancing him in one of his arms as he made his way downstairs to the basement, Mariku and Bakura hot on his heels. Getting to the door of the basement he turned back to Mariku and Bakura, "This may take a while, but if the rules finally get engraved in your thick head, then it's worth it," walking into the basement Ryou stared dead into Mariku and Bakura's eyes in confusion, as all they could do was watch him leave, and listen to Ryota locking the door behind himself.

After the basement door was shut Mariku took Bakura into his arms in a tight embrace, as he started crying freely, "It's our entire fault,"

"Sh, honey, Ryou will be fine, don't worry, we'll be going soon," But somehow Mariku didn't believe any of this himself.

"He won't be, he," but he couldn't finish his sentence as an almighty scream rung through the house, pulling away from Mariku he started banging his fists on the door, Mariku hesitating before he too started doing the same thing, as well as shouting for him to let Ryou go. However all they could do was listen to Ryou's pleas for help as he started crying.

About two hours later they heard the door opening, both men had tear stains on their faces, and as they saw Ryota at the doorway, and not with Ryou, they became very worried, "Bandage up Ryou, I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully you've learnt your message by then," walking away, he proceeded to walk out of the house, as Mariku and Bakura slowly walked into the basement, shocked at what they saw.

A now beaten and bruised Ryou lying crumpled in a heap on the floor, unconscious. Rushing to his side Mariku quickly lifted him up bridal style, as Bakura trailed behind them, still tearing up. They both ran not the kitchen, placing Ryou on the table, as they started searching the cupboards for the first aid kit.

Taking off his shirt they were horrified to see all the cuts across Ryou's chest, it was obvious that they would never heal. They wiped the cuts with antiseptic, bandaging up his chest, as well as his arms. After they bandaged up Ryou they picked him up, bringing him to lie down on his bed, just as he was starting to wake up.

"W… What happened…? Why does it hurt?" he asked, causing Mariku and Bakura to look at each other in shock.

"You don't remember what happened, that's the third time it's happened" Bakura muttered the last part. After Ryou shook his head Bakura asked another question, "What do you remember?"

"We watched a film and went to bed," Bakura and Mariku looked at each other, both agreeing what to do, as if they could hear what each other were thinking.

"Ryou get your stuff, we're leaving," said Bakura, as he and Mariku went through Ryou's things, looking for money. Once they found what little money Ryou had they pocketed it, pleased to see that Ryou had his shirt on. Bakura turned around in front of Ryou, who knew to jump on his back, as soon as he held his arms out. They walked down the stairs, on the way to the front door, Bakura nodded to Mariku as they opened the door. Once they were outside they ran. They didn't know where they were going, nor did they care, just as long as they got Ryou to safety.


End file.
